F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023: Max Verstappen fumes at George Russell after early clash as Sergio Perez wins sprint race
Sergio Perez took out the sprint at Azerbaijan, but his teammate Max Verstappen was fuming after an early clash with a Mercedes star. And a hot mic picked up what he really thought.
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Max Verstappen blasted George Russell and called him a “d***head” after the two clashed in the Baku sprint race.
Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez won the race but it was the Dutchman’s first-lap clash with Russell which drew the attention.
And he sought out Russell after the 17-lap race and confronted him over their coming together.
Russell explained he had “no grip”.
But Verstappen snapped back: “Mate, we all have no grip.
“We all need to give a little bit of space.
“But expect it next time the same, you know.”
He then muttered under his breath: “D***head,” with the insult picked up by the microphones.
Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc got a good launch at the start and started to move clear while Verstappen was unusually sluggish off the line and was drawn into a fight with Russell.
The two tangled over a handful of corners, with the Dutchman left furious by Russell’s driving as he brushed the walls of the circuit.
“I was surprised he was so angry, he finished P3, he’s got enough experience.”
Verstappen added: “It’s not clarified. I just don’t understand why you need to take so much risk on lap one.
“He understeered into my side pod to create a hole. We all have cold tyres. It’s easy to lock up.
“His beautiful way of explaining, ‘Ah mate, you know, locked up. Ah look at the on-board.’
“Well, it doesn’t make sense.”
Russell was not the only big loser at the restart as his team-mate Lewis Hamilton also dropped places.
Out in front, Leclerc was reeled in by Perez and the Mexican driver made his move into P1 on lap eight.
He then set about extending his lead as he romped to victory, crossing the line 4.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc.
Verstappen was third, Russell fourth and Carlos Sainz in fifth, while Fernando Alonso was sixth and ahead of Hamilton while Lance Stroll took the final point in eighth.
In the Grand Prix tomorrow, Leclerc will start at the front of the grid with Verstappen.
Perez and Sainz complete the second row with Hamilton and Alonso fifth and sixth - and Tussell back in 11th.
‘Are you f****** kidding?’: F1 star blows up after disaster
— The Sun
Formula One rookie Logan Sargeant was left unscathed after crashing his car during qualifying for the Sprint Shootout this morning. The 22-year-old collided with the barriers at turn 15 of the Baku City Circuit, causing significant damage to his Williams.
The SQ2 session was cut short by a red flag as a result, with Sargeant, Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and Oscar Piastri all subsequently eliminated from the qualifying session before the final round.
The crash completely destroyed the rear of Sargeant’s car, leaving the Williams mechanics with plenty to do before this afternoon’s Sprint Shootout.
The American rookie, who qualified in 15th, may even be forced to withdraw from the session altogether if his team cannot fix the damage in time.
Sargeant’s crash caused huge implications for several drivers on the grid, including AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
The Japanese star was just a few meters shy of the finish line when the red flags were waved, meaning his lap time did not count.
After the incident, Tsunoda was left fuming when discovering his huge effort counted for nothing.
He screamed: “No! Are you f****** kidding me?”
Sargeant appeared to walk away from the dangerous crash unscathed.
LECLERC’S BAKU LOVE AFFAIR CONTINUES
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc grabbed his third consecutive pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a nerve-jangling red-flag interrupted qualifying at Baku on Friday.
Leclerc and Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen had posted identical times in the top 10 shootout before Leclerc produced a magical flying last lap to head the grid for Sunday’s race.
Verstappen, edged out by less than two tenths of a second, leads his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez by 15 points in the world championship going into the fourth race of the season.
Perez will start on the second row with the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, fourth in qualifying, keeping the Mexican company.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton came fifth to fill the third row with Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
A virtuoso qualifying performance from @Charles_Leclerc 👌
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2023
Watch how the Ferrari driver topped the charts in Baku ðŸ¿#AzerbaijanGP@pirellisportpic.twitter.com/3e0HzYErkB
Completing the top 10 were Lando Norris, in a heavily upgraded McLaren, Yuki Tsunoda producing a superb eighth in the AlphaTauri, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll and rookie Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren.
For Leclerc, this was an unexpected moment of sunshine on the banks of the Caspian Sea after what he has described as “the worst start to the season ever”.
After adding to his 2021 and 2022 poles at this challenging street circuit he said: “We came into the weekend thinking it would be great if we were in front of Aston and Mercedes in qualifying and at the end we are on pole, so it’s a really good surprise.
“We must not forget, our race car is maybe still behind the Red Bull, so it will be difficult to keep the lead, but that’s the target. And really, really happy with that lap.” Verstappen, on the hunt for his third win of the season at a track where he won last year but has never occupied the front row said: “We’re P2 and we know we have very good race cars. It’s not bad.” – ‘I’m sorry.’
Verstappen had taken charge after the first stab around the six kilometre circuit in the opening qualifying session from Leclerc as Zhou Guanyu spun.
Nyck De Vries then planted his AlphaTauri’s nose into the wall at turn three to bring out a red flag with 10 minutes of Q1 to go.
“Oh my god, urrrrgh!” was the Dutch rookie’s reaction on the radio. No sooner had qualifying restarted than it was stopped again with another red flag – Pierre Gasly ripping off the corner of his hastily repaired Alpine to the consternation of his garage who had replaced the power unit in less than two hours after the car caught fire in Friday’s earlier practice.
“I’m sorry, I locked the front” he said after a Friday to forget. As the stewards got to work again to remove the damaged car Verstappen complained over the team radio “The sun is becoming lower and lower, it’s quite annoying”.
The Red Bull team have proved they can work wonders over the years but tinkering with the earth’s orbit could be beyond them.
The cars were back out again with seven minutes of the opening session remaining.
De Vries, Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg and Zhou were eliminated. Verstappen led the time sheets into Q3 with the five failing to make it out of the second session including George Russell, narrowly pushed down to 11th by none other than his Mercedes teammate Hamilton.
“Sugar,” said Russell bitterly.
Leclerc was first out for the final tilt at pole as the shadows lengthened on the circuit.
Verstappen posted a 1:40.445s – amazingly matched by Leclerc before the man from Monaco broke the deadlock with his final throw of the dice.
The drivers are back Saturday morning for another qualifying session, this one for Saturday’s sprint before the main event on Sunday, under the new format approved only on Tuesday.
“It’s super easy around here to make a mistake. We’ll see what happens tomorrow” said Verstappen.
As for Leclerc his unexpectedly strong showing has given a boost to Ferrari, struggling after two retirements last time out in Australia.
Now the man from Monaco will be hoping to translate pole into victory, a feat that has proved beyond him up to now.
"Urghhhh!"😫
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2023
Nyck de Vries was understandably gutted after crashing into the barriers at Turn 3 in qualifying 💥#AzerbaijanGP#F1pic.twitter.com/Rm7anaAtHB
TWO RED FLAGS: HORROR DAY FOR F1 STAR AS CAR IGNITES
Formula One star Pierre Gasly has had a nightmare opening day of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with two red flags ruling him out of practice and then the first round of qualifying.
Disaster struck Alpine in practice when flames were seen flickering from the back of Pierre Gasly’s car.
The Frenchman tried to nurse his stricken car back to the pits but with the fire quickly becoming a bonfire he jumped hopped out, prompting the first red flag of the weekend and plenty of work for the Alpine mechanics to get his car fit for qualifying in a few hours time
With the car able to be salvaged, it quickly turned into a day to forget for Gasly in qualifying.
Minutes into the first qualifying session for Saturday’s sprint race, the Frenchman put the right side of his Alpine straight into a wall in an innocuous crash after failing to turn enough.
Debris lay scattered on the ground as a gutted Alpine garage watched on.
Moments after the crash, the Frenchman said over the driver’s radio: “I couldn’t stop the car.”
Frustration for Gasly and Alpine 😖
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2023
When we restart they'll be just seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in Q1 #AzerbaijanGP#F1pic.twitter.com/GLvWxDPy9r
World champion Max Verstappen led the one and only practice session.
Saturday is now a stand-alone day devoted to the sprint, with a shortened qualifying version dubbed ‘the Sprint shootout’ now shaping the grid for the 100-kilometre (62-mile) dash.
This is the first of six sprints this season, double the number held in 2021 and 2022.
That gave the practice session on the notoriously hard to navigate streets of Baku added jeopardy, proving encouraging for some like Red Bull but disastrous for others, notably Alpine.
Perez had led early before Fernando Alonso flying this season in the rejuvenated Aston Martin as Lewis Hamilton came in with a brake issue, with George Russell following his Mercedes teammate back to the garage.
Yuki Tsunoda was the first to feel Baku’s infamous bite with a spin in the first quarter of an hour, his AlphaTauri’s rear right tyre ripped to pieces.
Practice got back under way with half an hour remaining but Alpine’s session went from bad to worse with Esteban Ocon’s car back in the garage and up on the ramp “as a precaution”, the team reported.
That’s the last thing the French outfit were hoping for after Gasly and Ocon’s double retirement in Australia.
With Alonso joining the pitlane gang only Hamilton and Oscar Piastri were out on the circuit.
The closing 10 minutes produced a late flurry of activity, with Perez displacing Verstappen at the top of the time sheets.
With five minutes left, Charles Leclerc produced a decent time to split the Red Bulls, then the Ferrari driver went fastest only for Verstappen to pip him at the death by 0.037sec.
Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari took fourth, Lando Norris was fifth in his extensively upgraded McLaren.
Hamilton took 11th and Russell 17th with Mercedes downplaying the subdued showings on set-up issues.
ALONSO’S CHEEKY RESPONSE TO TAYLOR SWIFT RUMOURS
Spanish Formula One veteran Fernando Alonso arrives in town for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the glow of a man very much in love.
Not perhaps with Taylor Swift, he good naturedly refused repeated opportunities to confirm (or deny) rumours he was dating the American singer – but with an old flame – Formula One.
“It’s happy days,” beamed the 41-year-old at his new team Aston Martin’s temporary weekend ‘cabin’ on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku.
“This season has been surprisingly good to be honest. We thought to have a decent car but not to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari, that was a surprise for us.” So good in fact Alonso, the 2005 and 2006 world champion, has enjoyed a run of three consecutive podiums for the first time since 2013.
Fernando was Swift to respond 😉#AzerbaijanGP#F1pic.twitter.com/LLTCOZZ1UT
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 27, 2023
That is in part down to the investment and belief of the owner of Aston Martin, Lawrence Stroll, and in part due to Alonso’s rekindled mojo for the sport.
After a two-year time-out from F1, and an unspectacular return at Alpine, his former Renault team, Alonso jumped on board Stroll’s project over a frantic weekend of telephone calls last summer.
A 48-hour engagement has produced a happy marriage, with Alonso third in the driver’s championship and Aston Martin second only to Red Bull in the constructors’ ahead of the fourth leg of the season on the streets of the Azerbaijani capital.
And now the prospect of a 33rd win, but first for 10 years in the Indian Summer of his career, is based on far more than the ramblings of a not-so-old man from Oviedo.
“The aim is for the team to fight for world championships,” said Alonso. “I don’t think we have an option in 2023 because of Red Bull but in 2024 you never know, you saw the step we made up this winter so why not another step next winter.”
Much has been made of the ageing idol returning for one last grand hoorah – but Alonso isn’t having any of that.
To make his point he lists the notable successes he enjoyed away from the track which perhaps did not receive the merit they deserved.
They include winning the 2018-2019 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, the pinnacle of endurance racing, a tilt at the IndyCar Series, and lining up in the most gruelling event on motorsport’s calendar – the Dakar Rally.
“They really put you out of your comfort zone and push you to a higher level. – Recharged batteries –
“It did help, the time out, maybe not so much in the driving style but in mentality and approach, the motivation,” he said.
“When you are 18 years in F1 it’s not that you lose motivation, I always had motivation, but I was tired of travelling, I was tired of the routine, repeating the same things, so the two years out of the sport were very refreshing, charging my batteries.
“Maybe I’m driving similar but mentally I’m much more fresh, happy to come to the circuit early, happy to keep chatting with engineers, PR stuff, events, sponsors, I have full batteries now, while in 2018 I was empty.”
When asked to compare his driving now to the championship winning years, he answers without the slightest hesitation: “I’m much better now, 100 per cent.”
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